MV ''Caledonia'' was a roll-on roll-off vehicle ferry operated by Caledonian MacBrayne in Scotland.

History

Built as ''Stena Baltica'' in 1966, she operated on various Scandinavian routes. In 1970, she was acquired by the

Caledonian Steam Packet Company The Caledonian Steam Packet Company provided a scheduled shipping service, carrying freight and passengers, on the west coast of Scotland. Formed in 1889 to complement the services of the Caledonian Railway, the company expanded by taking over r ...

and rebuilt at Scott Lithgow in

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

. Renamed ''Caledonia'', she replaced , on the

Isle of Arran The Isle of Arran (; sco, Isle o Arran; gd, Eilean Arainn) or simply Arran is an island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and the seventh-largest Scottish island, at . Historically part of Butesh ...

route, becoming the first roll-on roll-off ferry on this route. She soon proved too small for the route (as well as criticisms of her abilities, being replaced by ) and was moved to

Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, th ...

, until April 1988, when she was replaced by the larger . Purchased for conversion to a

floating restaurant A floating restaurant is a vessel, usually a large steel barge or hulk, used as a restaurant on water. The ''Jumbo Kingdom'', formerly located at Aberdeen in Hong Kong, was at one time the world's largest floating restaurant, until it sank at s ...

, she was laid up in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

until December 1988, when she was sold for service in Italy, as ''Heidi''. In 2005, she sank at her moorings in Naples, was re-floated and towed to Aliağa, Turkey for scrapping.

References

Caledonian MacBrayne 1966 ships {{ferry-stub